Takeshi Manganji
Takeshi Manganji is a member and leader of the Manganji Dreams and the main rival of Kouya Marino. He was formerly a member of the Tobita Club and one of the teammates to Kouya's brother, Yuhya Marino. He is the champion of the current Asia Cup. Takeshi comes from a wealthy family that runs their own company, the Manganji Group. Takeshi’s Crush Gear is Gaiki, however in the first episode he is seen using Gougetsu to battle against Kouya. Appearance Takeshi is shown to have black hair and brown eyes. His hair is spiked upwards at the back and a few strands of hair protudes from his forehead (the number of hair strands ranges from four to six, and more rarely, three or seven). His usual outfit consists of a red jacket with several badges on it, and one of them has the word "GEAR" on the jacket's left sleeve. He also has a sleeveless black shirt (this is revealed near the end of the movie), dark blue slacks, gray socks and a pair of brown shoes. Takeshi's younger self (four years ago) is seen wearing a white shirt with short red sleeves, black pants and a pair of green and white sneakers. He was occasionally seen wearing a red tuxedo, notably when he joined the Tobita Club and during his birthday party in the movie. Personality In terms of Gear Fighting, Takeshi is often seen to be calm and confident during battles. He often resorts to destroying his opponent's Gears by using his special attack King Of The Dragon Fighters (except for Kouya, who manages to avoid and survive the attack a few times)but never gets disqualified despite it being frowned upon. He also shows several signs of passion when pitted against a truly skilled Gear Fighter such as Kouya. Takeshi's cold attitude is shown on several occasions throughout the series. An instance of this is his refusal to extend the time for Jin to return from the Black Forest before the World Cup semifinal match against Kuroudo. Takeshi is also shown to be manipulative, which is revealed when Jin finds out that his actual intentions for bringing him to the Manganji Laboratory were so that Takeshi could steal the Garuda Eagle's data. However, it is discovered near the end of the series that Takeshi is emotionally disturbed by Yuhya's death and has been hiding his true feelings. Takeshi is also seen to possess a generous nature towards the Tobita Club and Kouya in several circumstances. This is shown when he offers to give money to the Tobita Club during its time of crisis. Takeshi's concern for Kouya's wellbeing is also revealed when Kouya almost falls from the roof of the Manganji Building after their battle. Plot Involvement in the Tobita Club Takeshi's interest in Gear Fighting began when he first came across the Tobita Clubhouse while he was riding with his bodyguard, Kurosaki. Inside, Takeshi met Yuhya who was practising Crush Gear and he began to admire Yuhya. Eventually Takeshi became a member of the Tobita Club along with Alex Borg and Shingo Nagidori. Yuhya trained Takeshi to be a great Gear Fighter and supported him even when the latter was defeated in a World Cup match. Takeshi also made a promise to Yuhya that they will train Yuhya's younger brother, Kouya together after the World Cup. During the day of the World Cup finals, Yuhya was involved in a tragic accident and died. The accident impacted Takeshi's life in a major way. Feeling abandoned and lost, he took charge of training other members in the Tobita Club alone. As a result, he is seen as a cold-hearted boy who does not have any feelings. However, Takeshi’s situation is otherwise – he actually repressed his feelings and hid his sadness inside. It is mentioned by Lilika that he admired Yuhya so much that there is no one in the club who suffered from Yuhya's death more than him. As Takeshi grew, he gradually became the top player in the Tobita Club. The fall of the Tobita Club Four years after Yuhya's death, Takeshi and Lilika are left in charge of selecting new candidates for the Tobita Club. Kouya is scheduled to fight for a place in the club but he shows up an hour late. Unimpressed with Kouya's lack of enthusiasm, Takeshi decides to make an example of him and challenges Kouya himself to a one-minute Gear Fight. To everyone's amazement Kouya ends up defeating Takeshi, thus becoming a new member. Later, Lilika finds out that Takeshi purposely let Kouya win so he could quit and form a club of his own. This leads to the resignation of almost every Tobita Club member, pushing the club to to the verge of closing. Kouya soon finds out the truth and pleads Takeshi to return to the Tobita Club, but to no avail. Takeshi divulges that the club is still controlled by Yuhya's reputation, and he will never be recognized as an individual if he stays there. He rebukes Kouya for his lack of respect for his team and the sport, to the point of stating that Kouya does not deserve to be called a Gear Fighter. Formation of the Manganji Club On the night of the Manganji Club opening ceremony, an exhibition match is scheduled to take place between Takeshi and Bernard Stellan, a French Champion until Kouya gatecrashes the party and challenges Takeshi to a duel. Believing that Kouya will be no match for him, Takeshi accepts and they make their way to the rooftop Crush Gear ring of the Manganji Hills. Using his brother's Garuda Eagle to fight, Kouya manages to hold his own against Takeshi. The match ends in a draw, and as Takeshi leaves via helicopter he states to Kouya that he had his chance and the next time they would face would have to be in a tournament. Manganji Cup Arc After some time the Manganji Group decides to host an open Crush Gear tournament known as the Manganji Cup in the hopes of attracting attention of several Crush Gear clubs and companies. Many major Gear Fighting enthusiasts attended the event, including the chairman of the Japanese Crush Gear Association. However the event is soon interrupted by the appearance of the newly formed Tobita Club. They had hoped to use the Burning Octopus team's invitation to compete in the tournament. However, Takeshi refuses to let the Tobita Club compete but does offer an ultimatum. They are offered the chance to compete in an exhibition game against a team of his choice known as the Mighty Gears. Unable to convince Takeshi any further, the Tobita Club accept his offer. The first three matches of the exhibition game are an astonishment to watch. Many people are in awe as they witness a fierce battle between two skilled teams. But it was not the expectaions the Tobita Club are hoping for, as they saw the defeat of Jirou, Kuroudo and Gear Master Jin at the hands of the Mighty Gears. The final round of the exhibition match is supposed to see Kouya face off against Satoru Todoroki. But Takeshi intervenes and states that the Tobita Club had already lost every match and that it is unnecessary for Kouya to play. This drives Kouya to call Takeshi a coward and a cheat. Takeshi laughs at Kouya and divulges the true intentions of the Manganji Cup. He reveals that the Manganji Group had invested 80 billion yen into building a top secret Crush Gear known as Gaiki that would impact the world of Gear Fighting forever. Unphased by the announcement of Gaiki, Kouya challenges Takeshi to a Gear Fight. Believing that he would be the only one to profit from the match, Takeshi asks Kouya if he is willing to risk destroying his brother's Gear just to face him. Kouya accepts this possibility and the two begin their match. The first round of the match seems close until Takeshi shows Gaiki's special features. It turns out that it is a unique Gear that can shift the battery box in order to gain a huge boost of speed. Takeshi uses this technique to win the first round. During the second match Kouya chooses to use the dash wheels in hopes that he could fight Takeshi using speed for speed. For most of the match Kouya holds his own until Takeshi reveals Gaiki's second feature. When it shifts its battery box from the front to the back it allows Gaiki to boost its spin ratio. Not willing to surrender, Kouya fights with all his might, only to be left defeated by Takeshi's mighty Crush Gear. In the end Kouya is brought to his knees sobbing in sadness over the loss he must accept. Hokkaido Arc Soon after the Manganji Cup Takeshi visits Kyousuke who is studying Garuda Eagle. There he invites Kyousuke to accompany him to the Manganji Group's research laboratory in Hokkaido. Takeshi tells Kyousuke that some of the best Gear Master are already working for him, and that he owes it to himself to join the Manganji Group. Takeshi then gives Kyousuke a plane ticket to use whenever he is ready. Unable to resist the chance of a lifetime, he uses the ticket and travels to Hokkaido. While in Hokkaido Takeshi is seen competing in an open Crush Gear tournament. There he is pitted against the local Gear Fighter, Daisuke Sasaki. Using Gaiki's VT Chassis, Takeshi makes short work of him. In the end he uses the King of the Dragon Fighters technique to destroy Sasaki's Gear and wins the game. After the match Takeshi notices that several members of the Tobita Club are in attendance. There they see Kyousuke sitting with Takeshi's team. A few days later Takeshi gives Kyousuke a tour of the the Manganji Laboratory, where he introduces several other Gear Masters such as Michael Boyd from America and Yan Chao from China. As they continue their tour, Takeshi shows Kyousuke the facility's Virtual Battle Arena which allows players to battle in a virtual simulation. Takeshi asks Kyousuke if he wishes to test his skills in the simulator, to which he accepts and begins a virtual match. During the battle Kyousuke holds his own against the simulator's top difficulty. Little does he know that Takeshi's scientist is downloading Garuda Eagle's data files from Jin's Gear case. In the end Kyousuke wins the simulated battle, but is unaware of Takeshi's true intentions. The next day Kyousuke catches Takeshi using the stolen data to try and find a weakness in Garuda Eagle. When he confronts Takeshi and his scientist about it, he is told that in exchange for using the facility's resources, Kyousuke would need to provide information such as Garuda Eagle's data. Kyousuke tries to retrieve the stolen data but is soon ejected from the facilty. The next day Takeshi finds out that all the data from the master computer has been deleted (in a rogue effort by Kyousuke, Kouya and Kaoru). Asia Cup Arc After winning numerous Crush Gear tournaments the Manganji Dreams team qualify for the Asia Cup. Many skilled teams are present during the opening ceremony such as the Tobita Club, the Four Stars Team and Team Griffon. But Takeshi's reputaion in the Crush Gear world make him and his team the odds on favorite to win. Takeshi's team manage to win all of their qualifying games with relative ease after fully mastering the VT Chassis. Even in the semifinals, Takeshi's team show their superiority by defeating every one of their opponents. The Manganji Dreams team manage to win the game and are the first team to qualify for the Asia Cup finals. After his match Takeshi is confronted by the Tobita Club, and in an act of arrogance he tells them to do their best if they hope to make it to the finals. Kyousuke overhears Takeshi talking to his bodyguard about the location of certain blueprints they have traced to a server in Little China Town. As Takeshi is leaving the arena he advises Kouya to watch the finals of the South America Cup if he wants to see an interesting match. A few hours later Takeshi and his bodyguard arrive at an apartment building in China Town. There they found the abandoned apartment building they hoped would have the location of the blueprints they were searching for. They were interupted however by the unexpected arrival of the nosey Gear Master Jin and his accomplice Lan Fang . Jin soon realises that the appartment belonged to the legendary Gear God , the creator of the first crush gear. He also learns that the Gear God has created blueprints for a cheaper VT Chassis and has posted it globally on the internet. Unawre of the Gear God's intentions Takeshi seemed unable to comprehend why someone would post such blueprints online. Jin assumed that he posted it in order to make a fool of The Manganji Group, while Lan believed it would level the playing field for other Gear Fighters. Their attention however is soon drawn to the finals of the South America Cup. Jin and Lan soon see that a Gear fighter named U-YA is using a Black Garuda Eagle to fight with in the finals.They also realise that U-YA can use the Shining Sword Breaker technique Takeshi explains that U-YA has managed to use Shining Sword Breaker for every game he has competed in the South America Cup and has won 50 matches in row. Jin and Lan leave the building believing it to good to be true. Showdown at The Asia Cup Finals Trivia * In an interview with the series producer Naotake Furusato, he described the surname "Manganji" as having an image of wealth. He jokingly added that Japanese people are suckers for names that end in "ji”. "Interview Side B." Sunrise Inc. Retrieved on January 20, 2009. * Takeshi shares his given name with another character from Crush Gear Nitro; however, the two characters have different backgrounds and personalities. References Category:Characters (Crush Gear Turbo) Category:Manganji Dreams